Battery Cable Problems of Chevrolet Astro

After approx. One week of oper. Of my 2001 chevy Astro a fire occurred that would have resulted in a total loss of the vehicle and contents if I had not been close by. After driving my vehicle for approx. 20 miles and parking it my van caught fire after being shut off for 15 minutes. The vehicles positive and negative battery cables were run from the battery to the engine dangerously close to the steering linkage where it passes the engine support structure. If the vehicle is jacked up to the point where the tire is still touching the ground and the steering wheel is turned half way to the left the passenger side inner tie rod end is rubbing into the positive and negative battery cables which are in a common harness. If the suspension is moving up and down on a bumpy road while the wheel is turned to the left direct contact between the steering linkage and the battery cables will cause repeated damage over time resulting in an eventual fire. If this fire occurred while on the highway people could have been hurt. If this had happened last night while my van was parked in front of my house the 7 people including two small children living here could have died from fire caused by very poor engineering. If you can jack up a vehicle and cause a movable part of the vehicles suspension or steering to come into direct contact with the positive battery cable the vehicles engineers were negligent. Also having both battery cables in the same harness is not a very good idea either my vehicle to the best of my knowledge has never been in an accident or had any major repair work done. This issue should be a safety recall. If you have not had a reported death from this issue yet it is only a matter of time. My first vehicle was a gm and I suspect my last will be, but gm has to answer for this act of stupidity. I have pictures I can email that show just how obvious this flaw is.

See all problems of the 2001 Chevrolet Astro 🔎.

2003 Chevrolet Astro van. Consumer states the steering knuckle/arm is designed in a way that causes it to come into contact with a wiring harness when the vehicle is turned to the left over a period of time, the constant contact damaged the wiring harness and allowed the steering knuckle/arm to touch the wires inside the wiring harness. The end result caused damage to other wires. The consumer stated the problem started in February 2011 when making a left turn would sometimes cause the radio and the ac to die. The abs light and brake light would also come on and the brake pedal would sink to the floor. The dealer was unable to duplicate the problem. Two weeks ago, while pulling out of a parking space, everything died. The engine would not restart and nothing electrical worked. The consumer was unable to exit the vehicle and there was a smell of burning wires. The consumer was finally able to manually push up the door locks to exit the vehicle. The consumer stated he discovered a TSB and found the steering knuckle was not the source of the problem, but the battery cable retaining clips were not properly secured in their retaining holes in the engine cradle frame below the engine oil pan. As a result, the battery cable made contact with the steering linkage components and rubbed through the insulation on the cable. Updated 06/01/11.

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2003 Chevrolet Astro van. Drove vehicle without incident on August 1, 2010. Monday morning August, 2, 2010 battery was dead (purchased new February 2010). Replaced with new battery on August 2, 2010. First connected the positive cable. Attempted to connect negative cable. Negative post terminal sparked and battery cable got very hot. Disconnected battery cable. Inspected fuses. All good. Trace visible portions of positive cable to fuse box, alternator, and starter. No indication of grounding. Contacted mechanic who on August 14, 2010 performed test on fuse box, alternator, and starter. All good. Mechanic thoroughly traced positive cable. Discovered short located at the passenger side of the engine behind the steering linkage. Stated that cable sheath had been worn away by the rubbing of the tie rod and was grounding out on the body and that it was extremely fortunate that the vehicle had not caught on fire. I had to have the vehicle towed to Chevrolet dealership and had cable replaced.

On September 9, 2005 my 2003 Chevrolet Astro van exploded and caught fire in a parking lot. The fire dept. Arrived and put out the fire; the firemen disconnected the battery cable. The van was towed to huffines Chevrolet in plano, TX. The cause of the incident according to the Chevrolet mechanics is as follows: 1) every time the steering wheel was turned, the tie rods etc. Would chafe against a bracket on the chassis that held down a battery cable. 2) eventually the bracket failed. 3) the battery cable arced against the brake line. 4) the brake line ruptured spraying hydraulic fluid over the hot engine manifold. 5) the ensuing fire burned through, among other things, the a/c hose carrying freon. 6) when the a/c hosed was severed, the freon gas escaped causing the loud explosion that we heard some distance away. 7) the smoke that we saw in the air was actually the escaping freon gas. All was supposedly repaired in three weeks. On November 8, 2005, the brakes failed while under way. The Chevrolet mechanics stated that the cause of the brake failure was traced to a small pinhole caused by the arcing battery cable several weeks ago. Eventually the entire brake line failed. If this story seems preposterous to you, it does to me too but this is the story we got from Chevrolet. In my opinion, my 2003 chevy Astro van suffers from a fatal flaw in design and/or manufacturer. It is unsafe and should be taken off the road forever.

I have a 2003 chevy Astro. The problem started in January of 2005. The volts meter started dropping. I took it to phil smith Chevrolet in lauderhill, florida. They did an electric diagnostic and found the alternator and battery to be bad. I changed the alternator and battery on my own. Vehicle still had same problem afterwards. I then took my vehicle back to phil smith Chevrolet, and they said that the battery cables were bad. I had them change them. The battery light was still coming on, and they said that it was okay, they just forgot to reset the light. Everything was okay, except for the battery light still coming on, until may of 2005. When I accelerate from a complete stop, my vehicle stalls out, but starts right back up. I then brought my vehicle to trapp Chevrolet in houma, la. They ran a diagnostic and said that the alternator was bad. So, I then changed the altenator again. I was still having the same problem. So I returned to trapp. They ran a diagnostic test again, and said that the fuel filter was out and distributor cap and rotor was out. I then changed the fuel filter, distributor cap, and rotor myself. I was still having the same problem. I then, returned to trapp Chevrolet, and they said that they cannot find the problem, and the mechanic has driven the vehicle and sees the problem, but cannot find the problem. If I want them to continue working to find the problem, I have to pay for another diagnostic test, even though they haven't found the problem to begin with.

Consumer stated the vehicle stalled and the vehicle had no brakes or power. The consumer stated smoke came from under the hood. The mechanic found the positive battery cable was routed in a way that the steering linkage rubbed against it and shorted out.

When pulling into a parking spot the van stalled and wouldnt restart. It seemed the battery was totally drained so I went to replace it and found that the battery cables were scorching hot. When I installed the replacement battery it was at nightr so I saw sparks down on the lower portion to the battery harness. I then had the van towed into the dealership and they intially found no defects, told me the battery wasnt installed properly. I explained again the issue and they rechecked the electrical system and found no defects. I had repeated issues of the same type over the next two days so I took it back and they found shorted battery cables htis time. I wanted other Astro owners to know of the issue to see if they had run into the same type of problem. I am currently working to get my towing fee reimbursed by gm but they are being a little difficult at this point.

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Battery cable started to smoke under normal driving conditions. Also, brake lines had to be replaced because they melted due to heat from the battery short.

See all problems of the 1996 Chevrolet Astro 🔎.